One aspect of the invention relates to essential oils. Essential oils are natural and aromatic liquids found in the roots, stems, bark, seeds, flowers, and other parts of plants. Technically, essential oils are fat soluble, non-water-based phytochemicals that include volatile organic compounds. The chemistry of any particular essential oil can be very complex and may consist of hundreds of different and unique chemical compounds. These oils give plants their distinctive smells, provide protection against disease, and assist in pollination. In their pure form, essential oils are translucent with colors ranging from clear to pink to blue.
Essential oils are used in hygiene and personal care products, for adding flavor to food and drink, and for adding scents to perfumes and cleaning products. At different times throughout history, essential oils have also been used for medical purposes in which these oils are inhaled, applied topically, or ingested. The present invention provides an essential oil composition containing an essential oil product, and a method of using the composition.
Another aspect of the invention relates to testosterone levels. Testosterone is the major circulating androgen in men. More than 95% of the 6-7 mg of testosterone produced per day is secreted by the approximately 500 million Leydig cells in the testes. Two hormones produced by the pituitary gland, luteinizing hormone (“LH”) and follicle stimulating hormone (“FSH”), are required for the development and maintenance of testicular function.
The most important hormone for the regulation of Leydig cell number and function is LH. In eugonadal men, LH secretion from the pituitary is inhibited through a negative-feedback pathway by increased concentrations of testosterone through the inhibition of the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (“GRH”) by the hypothalamus. FSH promotes spermatogenesis and is essential for the normal maturation of sperm. FSH secretion from the pituitary normally is inhibited through a negative-feedback pathway by increased testosterone concentrations.
Testosterone is responsible primarily for the development and maintenance of secondary sex characteristics in men. In the body, circulating testosterone is metabolized to various 17-keto steroids through two different pathways. Testosterone can be metabolized to dihydrotestosterone (“DHT”) by the enzyme 5α-reductase. There are two forms of 5α-reductase in the body: one form is found predominately in the liver and non-genital skin while another form is found in the urogenital tract of the male and the genital skin of both sexes. Testosterone can also be metabolized to estradiol (“E2”) by an aromatase enzyme complex found in the liver, fat, and the testes.
Testosterone circulates in the blood 98% bound to protein. In men, approximately 40% of the binding is to the high-affinity sex hormone binding globulin (“SHBG”). The remaining 60% is bound weakly to albumin. Thus, a number of measurements for testosterone are available from clinical laboratories. The term “free” testosterone as used herein refers to the fraction of testosterone in the blood that is not bound to protein. The term “total testosterone” or “testosterone” as used herein means the free testosterone plus protein-bound testosterone. The term “bioavailable testosterone” as used herein refers to the non-SHBG bound testosterone and includes testosterone weakly bound to albumin.
The conversion of testosterone to DHT is important in many respects. For example, DHT binds with greater affinity to SHBG than does testosterone. In addition, in many tissues, the activity of testosterone depends on the reduction to DHT, which binds to cytosol receptor proteins. The steroid-receptor complex is then transported to the nucleus where it initiates transcription and cellular changes related to androgen action. DHT is also thought to lower prostate volume and inhibit tumor development in the prostate. Thus, given the importance of DHT and testosterone in normal body functioning, researchers frequently assess and report androgen concentrations in patients as total androgen (“DHT+T”) or as a ratio of DHT to testosterone (“DHT/T ratio”).
The UCLA-Harbor Medical Center indicates that the normal total testosterone levels in adult men range from 298 to 1043 ng/dL, with normal free testosterone levels ranging from 3.5 to 17.9 ng/dL.
There is considerable variation in the half-life of testosterone reported in the literature, ranging from 10 to 100 minutes. Researchers do agree, however, that circulating testosterone has a diurnal variation in normal young men. Maximum levels occur at approximately 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. with levels declining throughout the day. Characteristic profiles have a maximum testosterone level of 720 ng/dL and a minimum level of 430 ng/dL. The physiological significance of this diurnal cycle, if any, however, is not clear.
Male hypogonadism results from a variety of patho-physiological conditions in which testosterone concentration is diminished below the normal range. The hypogonadic condition is sometimes linked with a number of physiological changes, such as diminished interest in sex, impotence, reduced lean body mass, decreased bone density, and lowered mood and energy levels.
Researchers generally classify hypogonadism into one of three types. Primary hypogonadism includes the testicular failure due to congenital or acquired anorchia, XYY Syndrome, XX males, Noonan's Syndrome, gonadal dysgenesis, Leydig cell tumors, maldescended testes, varicocele, Sertoli-Cell-Only Syndrome, cryptorchidism, bilateral torsion, vanishing testis syndrome, orchiectomy, Klinefelter's Syndrome, chemotherapy, toxic damage from alcohol or heavy metals, and general disease (renal failure, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, myotonia dystrophica). Patients with primary hypogonadism show an intact feedback mechanism in that the low serum testosterone concentrations are associated with high FSH and LH concentrations. However, because of testicular or other failures, the high LH concentrations are not effective at stimulating testosterone production.
Secondary hypogonadism involves an idiopathic gonadotropin or LH-releasing hormone deficiency. This type of hypogonadism includes Kallman's Syndrome, Prader-Labhart-Willi's Syndrome, Laurence-Moon-Biedl's Syndrome, pituitary insufficiency/adenomas, Pasqualini's Syndrome, hemochromatosis, hyperprolactinemia, or pituitary-hypothalamic injury from tumors, trauma, radiation, or obesity. Because patients with secondary hypogonadism do not demonstrate an intact feedback pathway, the lower testosterone concentrations are not associated with increased LH or FSH levels. Thus, these men have low testosterone serum levels but have gonadotropins in the normal to low range.
Third, hypogonadism may be age-related. Men experience a slow but continuous decline in average serum testosterone after approximately age 20 to 30 years. Researchers estimate that the decline is about 1-2% per year. Cross-sectional studies in men have found that the mean testosterone value at age 80 years is approximately 75%, of that at age 30 years. Because the serum concentration of SHBG increases as men age, the fall in bioavailable and free testosterone is even greater than the fall in total testosterone. Researchers have estimated that approximately 50% of healthy men between the ages of 50 and 70 have levels of bioavailable testosterone that are below the lower normal limit. Moreover, as men age, the circadian rhythm of testosterone concentration is often muted, dampened, or completely lost. The major problem with aging appears to be within the hypothalamic-pituitary unit. For example, researchers have found that with aging, LH levels do not increase despite the low testosterone levels. Regardless of the cause, these untreated testosterone deficiencies in older men may lead to a variety of physiological changes, including sexual dysfunction, decreased libido, loss of muscle mass, decreased bone density, depressed mood, and decreased cognitive function. The net result is geriatric hypogonadism, or what is commonly referred to as “male menopause.”
Today, hypogonadism is the most common hormone deficiency in men, affecting about 5 in every 1,000 men. At present, it is estimated that only five percent of the estimated four to five million American men of all ages with hypogonadism currently receive testosterone replacement therapy. Thus, for years, researchers have investigated methods of delivering testosterone to men. Current testosterone methods for treating hypogonadism suffer from one or more drawbacks.
The present invention is directed to compositions and methods that are useful for maintaining healthy testosterone levels and pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating hypogonadism.